In our bi-weekly series, readers can email in with any questions about property to be answered by our expert, Jonathan Rolande. Jonathan is a professional property-buyer and housing commentator who has bought and sold over 1,000 properties. If you have a question for him, email us at money@theipaper.com.
Question: I currently rent a three-bedroom property with my family. I’ve been putting off buying for a year or so as I’m worried about buying just before a massive crash! As silly as it sounds, I feel like people have been warning about this and I’m worried I’ll be caught out. Should I wait, or just go for it? We’d probably opt for another three bed and the cost would be around £400,000.
Answer: It’s fair to say that property hasn’t performed well in the last few years, especially compared to the returns out there on other investments. But no – I don’t see a crash coming, and waiting rarely pays off.
Shorts
Growth has slowed. Zoopla puts the current rate of price increases at 1.3 per cent, down from 1.7 per cent last year, as higher mortgage costs make buyers pause and affordability has been hit. But a slowdown isn’t a crash. Zoopla’s own data shows UK prices have risen in 25 of the past 30 years.
